Walk tall in Pierre Hardy heels, check your fitness with Runtastic scales, then kick back with a cup of Hasslacher's drinking chocolate

The shoes

High and mighty

Put some reptilian razzle on with these snakeskin Pierre Hardy skyscrapers, made exclusively for shoescribe.com, available from February. The French shoe designer has used multicolored leather to create a showstopping pair that are just the ticket for that early February Caribbean jaunt. £750, shoescribe.com JS

The homeware

Cheese course

ENLARGE

An educational cheese wheel platter

For fret-free fromage, get to know your Stichelton from your Stinking Bishop and your Munster from your Monterey Jack with this educational cheese wheel platter, which divides the delectable dairy product into categories—cow, goat, sheep and buffalo—and then by texture—hard, soft etc. Decorated with illustrations of 65 cheeses, it makes a perfect centerpiece for a dinner party.$28, popchartlab.com JS

The scales

The whole truth

Time to check on all those New Year's fitness resolutions. The Runtastic Libra Bluetooth 4.0 scale syncs with your iPhone, analyzing and tracking key body metrics like bone and muscle mass, water and body fat percentages, BMI and basal metabolic rate, providing a more detailed picture and, ultimately, a more focused approach for your next workout. €129, runtastic.com TG

The book

The green stuff

ENLARGE

"Emerald: Twenty-one Centuries of Jewelled Opulence and Power."

Diamonds may be a girl's best friend, but emeralds are for big-time players, as we find out in the glittering new book, "Emerald: Twenty-one Centuries of Jewelled Opulence and Power." Ogle earrings dug up at Pompeii, or the tiaras of 19th-century monarchs and bracelets of 20th-century movie stars. But reserve a special place for the weighty wonders of the Indian subcontinent, where a maharajah wasn't worthy of the name without a hoard of green. £75,Thames & Hudson JSM

The art

Petal power

ENLARGE

From Jan. 25 until April 27, two of the five suriving van Gogh paintings of sunflowers will be hanging side by side in London's National Gallery.
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)

Of the five surviving Vincent van Gogh paintings of sunflowers painted in the summer of 1888 (just before the episode with Gauguin and the earlobe), three are in Munich, Tokyo and Philadelphia. From Jan. 25 until April 27, the remaining two will be hanging side by side in London's National Gallery, as the Amsterdam Van Gogh Museum is allowing its own version of "Sunflowers" to be compared with the National Gallery's most popular picture. nationalgallery.org.uk PL

The treat

Cocoa pops

ENLARGE

A 250g bar of solidified Colombian cacao liquor

Cult hot chocolate? Possibly. This 250g bar of solidified Colombian cacao liquor, made sustainably and ethically from 100% native Criollo beans of the rare "Fino de Aroma" variety, might just turn you on. The high-end drinking chocolate is available from Marks & Spencer, the British Museum and the Eden Project, and from the producer's own website. £5, hasslachers.co.uk PL

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com.